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I agree w/ DjM if you don't know or don't trust the sender. Just delete it, if it was something important they will bring it up again, and then you may ask to have it resent. I get out of work that way. Someone sends me a file with just the line "Look This Over" when they ask me about again I say "I wasn't aware of the file and no instructions provided so I deleted it, please be more specific with the file creator, what is being reviewed, and who the comments are to be sent to when sending me a file".

very unlikely that the bitmap is going to be a problem...however it is certainly possible that the pic was sent from someones hd along with a viral package. In many cases...such as sircam and klez the very act of viewing the mail will have infected your system. they use problems with the way email clients (most notably outlook...but also eudora) display mail. malicious code can be insert into the mail and you won't know it by looking at it. update your av defs, do a complete scan and be wary of strange behaviour...

I used to be With IT. But then they changed what IT was. Now what I'm with isn't IT, and what's IT seems scary and weird." - Abe Simpson

images can be dangerous

Please pardon my memory, for I cannot remember the exact name of the program I'm about to refer to. There is an application that enables you to 'hide' files within an image file, which means that virii are now able to lurk inside of an image. Take no chances and scan everything.

There is an application that enables you to 'hide' files within an image file, which means that virii are now able to lurk inside of an image.

yes and no...there are several ways of doing this...it's called steganography and its a form of encryption...however at least for the moment, there isn't a real risk from a pic carrying a virus...a virus has to be executed..com exe bat pif etc...a bmp or gif isn't going to "infect" your system without some other external help...doesn't mean that this won't become a problem...there was a thread on this just last week...and there are some damn smart virus writers out there...

Take no chances and scan everything.

goes without saying...except that it needs to be said and said again...

I used to be With IT. But then they changed what IT was. Now what I'm with isn't IT, and what's IT seems scary and weird." - Abe Simpson

Zigar is right, no image file can infect your computer on it's own at the moment. There was a thread posted earlier about a virus ( http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=230234 ) which used hidden code in jpg's, but in order for it to work it had to catch the jpg when you opened it and see if it was infected. Without the program to catch and execute the code in the jpg it would be completely harmless. So unless it's a file with a hidden extension "*.jpg.exe" and your computer hides the ".exe" then then image itself should be fine, wouldn't hurt to scan it anyway though. To keep virii like Sircam and Klez out of your system keep your email client up to date, use one that won't execute scripts by default even, and keep you AV .dat files up to date.